Emptiness
by Tirnel
Summary: A depressing Grelliam oneshot. Not part of the ongoing series. Character "death".


Grell woke up and stretched, a big smile spreading over her face. The morning sun shone through her bedroom window in a dreamlike manner. But it hadn't been a dream. Last night was too real for it to have been a dream. Her life was perfect in this moment. William belonged to her and she to him. She squealed softly in happiness and rolled over to snuggle him.

William's side of the bed was empty. She bolted upright, insecurity washing over her. "William?" she called. She got of bed and threw on her robe over her nightgown before going down the hall to check the bathroom. It was empty. In a few moments, she had searched the entire house with William nowhere to be found within. Vaguely, she recalled the phone ringing and waking her in the middle of the night, but she had fallen right back to sleep just as William answered it.

William had just been called in to work for some emergency and had not returned yet. That was it, she was sure of it, but she couldn't shake the feeling that wasn't it as she dressed for work. He hadn't changed his mind about them had he? Her mind couldn't rest until she found him, heading straight for his office in the dispatch department. That was the most likely spot to find him. She barely noticed the reaper scraping his name off the door as she shoved him aside so she could enter. William wasn't in there, but an agent of equal rank as her was. The sparse belongings that William kept in his office had been tossed carelessly into a box on the desk.

"What's all this? Where's William?" she demanded to know.

"Get to work, Sutcliff. I don't have the time for your antics this morning," he answered, rifling through some papers in front of him.

She slammed her hands down on the desk. "I'm not doing anything until you tell me why William's stuff is packed up and where I can find him."

He sighed in frustration. He knew he would not be rid of her until he answered her. "Mr. Spears has moved on."

She blinked. "Moved on? You mean he's been promoted?" He ignored her. "Has he been transferred to another branch?" _Without saying goodbye and that he would see me soon?_ Maybe he had tried, but she had been asleep or the Board hadn't given him the chance before shipping him off.

"You _could_ say he's been transferred, yes. Now get to work and you can take _that_ with you." He gestured to the box as he dismissed her.

She scowled at him before scooping up the box, knowing that was going to be the best answer she was going to get from him. She left the office, knocking over the same reaper she had shoved aside on her way out. Her office was just up ahead but she decided to stop and ask the reaper she had to pass to get to it, "What does it mean when a reaper has 'moved on'?"

The reaper laughed at her. "You must be joking. Every reaper knows what that means. Didn't you pay attention in class at all?" He laughed at her some more and kept laughing until she picked him up by the collar. The other agent's eyes widened in fear. "It means a reaper's sentence has ended and they are no longer in this realm." She let go of him and retrieved the box from where she had dropped it. Grell entered her office and set the box on her desk. She took her seat behind her desk.

William was gone? No, he couldn't be, not when they had just started a life together. A life she had waited decades for. She slowly took the items out of the box and set them on her desk one by one before sitting back in her chair and staring at them.

Emptiness consumed her. Life was cruel. Something she knew perhaps more than anyone, but she had still hoped that one day she would have her happy ending. Now she had had it ripped from her just when she had had it in her grasp. This life she lived was supposed to be a punishment after all. She found a small piece of solace in the knowledge that William had loved her, if only for a little while, but it wasn't enough to staunch the void she now felt. A thought came to her and she couldn't fight back the tears anymore.

Was it her fault that William wasn't here anymore? Had he been forgiven because he dared to love her back? It was a romantic notion, but she didn't want such things if it meant she could never see William again.

She pocketed one of the items left behind that had the most meaning to her. Taking off her glasses, she laid them on her desk. She didn't look back as the left the association. There was nothing for her here anymore.

(x)

o.0 so this was something that came to me as I woke up this morning. I guess this is a build up from all the times I nearly killed off Grell, or permanently separated the couple throughout the Box series and just couldn't bring myself to do it.


End file.
